In these times of global and personal changes, we are faced with the opportunity to redefine our communities and ourselves and manifest the world we truly want. That excitement can translate into stress, anxiety, fear and feelings of being lost. Old ways that have served us for many years, don’t serve us anymore. We face a choice: to hold on to the old or to embrace the new. The new can’t come in if the space is cluttered with the old. And we don’t know what the new has in store for us. We also have to let go of our old identities and roles and surrender to an unfamiliar deeper sense of self. Living in the moment, embracing the unknown is the artist’s way. The painter, the actor, and the writer know that great creative work comes out of unstructured and undefined empty space. As human beings, we are artists in the medium of life. The awakened artist allows for unstructured space around him in order to maintain a connection with the natural flow of his true essence. Surrendered to the Now, comfortable with not knowing, he co-creates reality with the unseen forces of the universe, knowing that this synchronistic way of living is the way to an inspired life and to a new earth. This new way of being feels expansive and allows for our true nature to unfold with purpose, joy and meaning. This may great–but where do we start and how do we know we are on the right track? One way that lets me know that I am connected and present to my true essence is following that feeling of aliveness I get in my body when I am inspired. I choose to engage with people, books, art work, places, and ideas that ignite my curiosity, uplift my spirit, expand my awareness, and fill my body with joy. I see it as kinesthetic way of going through life. I love surrounding myself with inspiring beings. Conscious and awakened people have inspiring ideas that light up and enthuse the rest of the world. I believe strongly in the power of a great idea, especially when it comes from a place of passion, presence and profound connection with the essence of our being. Great ideas inspire and have the potential to change lives, perception, and the world–in an instant. Every fall, I gather at Oceanstone inspiring and inquisitive minds for three days to engage ideas and each other in the spirit of expanding our consciousness and bringing about increased wellbeing and inspired living. The presentations are facilitated by leaders in the fields of wellness, consciousness, arts and sustainability. We leave the weekend bursting with new ideas and renewed enthusiasm for our own purpose. This year, the weekend is especially designed to stir the mind, body and soul to allow for an undeniable experience of our fundamental individual essence, our deep inner “I am” presence in the world. With interactive and experiential sessions and lots of space for quiet reflection and time with nature, workshop leaders, speakers and artists will provide opportunities throughout the weekend to address and explore what is most important and relevant to us and our own journey of growth and transformation. Inspired people allow me to rediscover and reawaken aspects of myself I might have lost sight of along the way. Through the Festival, I have met talented artists, practitioners, educators, visionaries, healers, and facilitators who live here in the Maritimes and are dedicated to creating a new world compassion, creativity, love and abundance become the pillars of our communities. On behalf of this years presenters, Dr. Dena Churchill, Barry Braun, Ross Burns, Kelley Burry, Jenny Kierstead, Shahar Rabi, Susan Guest, Josh Coleman, Stephen Joyce, Jo Beale and myself, I would like to thank you for joining us this weekend. We are excited to share this experience with you. Mahalo, Anne Thibeault-Bérubé, PhD Founder Autopoetic Ideas Festival www.ideasfestival.ca |
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Barry Braun offers workshops across Canada to executives who are seeking to be more grounded in authenticity and to be more effective as humans and executives. He is the author of Do Less Get More, a serial Entrepreneur, an executive coach and the developer of Introducing Extra Ordinary. His latest work is about bringing out the spiritual nature of organizations as a way to create team and energy within the organization. Glimpse of Extra Ordinary Most people describe their lives as busy. And there is always more busy-ness we should do. And so we strive to create balance, something that we never seem to do quite well enough. And although it may be good, we know it could be better. Recommended Readings: Do Less, Get More, Barry Braun Crossing the Desert, Robert Wicks |
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Ross Burns is a member of the Capoeira group Dende Do Recife. The group that was founded in 2005 by Contra-Mestre Azeitona. His goal was to further develop capoeira here in Canada and to emphasize the style and culture of his Brazilian home city: Recife. Under Contra-Mestre Azeitona's leadership Dende do Recife continues to teach capoeira (an art form that mixes dance and fight) to students of all ages and skill levels. The group runs an independent dance studio in Halifax and is always busy giving workshops and performances around the province. Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art form. It is a mixture of a fight, a dance and a game that incorporates many different elements: music, philosophy, acrobatics, poetry, folklore, and much more. It is a physical dialog, a social and cultural phenomenon and a joyful past time. It has a long history that is in large part mysterious, but we know for sure that it has evolved over the past 500 years out of the diverse African cultures present in Brazil as a result of the slave trade. Only in the past thirty years has capoeira made its way beyond the borders of Brazil. At first it was just a few isolated teachers who made their way to Europe and North America, but now it is truly a global phenomenon and is practiced in every corner of the world. Training Capoeira has many benefits: It will improve your overall fitness with emphasis on strength, flexibility, balance and agility; it will help develop your musical sensibilities, and give you a newfound confidence in your everyday life. Capoeira is a spontaneous way of moving and a creative way of thinking that will teach you to express yourself while interacting with others. |
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Kelley Burry is a 48 year old wife, and mother of two great body talking kids. She has a Bachelor of Education and a Physical Education degree from Dalhousie University and has taught elementary school for many years. She recently retired from teaching to work with people and animals in Facilitated Personal Development and Healing. Body Talk fits right in and is a wonderful way to enhance and deepen our training results with all animals, and their humans! In January 2009 Kelley was very excited to become a BodyTalk Access Trainer, as she has seen how powerful Access can be in her own life. She has recently been accepted by the IBA to train to be an AnimalTalk Access Trainer. Body Talk is a revolutionary form of alternative health care. It encompasses: Western Medical Expertise, The Energy Dynamics of Acupuncture, Osteopathic and Chiropractic Philosophy, The Clinical Findings of Applied Kinesiology, The Insights of Modern Physics and Mathematics, and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Body Talk’s major assets are its simplicity, safety, and the speed of its results. Because the Body Talk System allows the body’s own healing abilities to effect change, clients see long-lasting, ongoing improvements in health rather than short-term symptomatic relief. It is non-invasive, objective in application, and works effectively on humans, plants and animals. Come and join Kelley for an amazing fun-filled workshop learning to take charge of your health. |
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Dr. Dena Churchill is a Chiropractic Doctor and dynamic keynote speaker remembered for her ability to deeply connect with audiences with clarity, wisdom and humour. With a humble confidence she draws on a wealth of real-life experiences to help you become your best by calling on the ageless wisdom of the trillium of mind, body, spirit balance in healing and transformation. As a doctor, speaker and consultant, Dr. Dena brings her extensive studies in psychology, biology, chiropractic, acupuncture and energy healing to provide you with fresh ideas in healing and transformation that liberate your mind and dissolves emotional stress that interferes with the healing process. Miracles of the Magic Mind If we operate with the premise that it is our mind that creates ourreality, then to command the mind is the magic that controls our destinyto any miraculous result--the colloquial "Law of attraction." http://www.drdenachurchill.com
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Josh Coleman was born in the Annapolis valley in Nova Scotia, “I have had a colourful upbringing on many different levels, and feel blessed to have been born here at this time.” In 2008, experiences and events lead him to ask the question "Who am I beyond the form of Josh?". Since, then he has been learning what it means to be here on Earth, and allowing "Self" to unfold. Opening your Ancient Eyes is a guided meditation specifically based on letting go and allowing yourself to be as you are - without justification. This space of "being" is the common root of every religion, spiritual practice, and explanation for our existence. All humans on Earth not only have the ability to touch this space, but are rooted in this space whether they are conscious of it or not. We are already perfect, and allowing the "complications" to rest for a moment is to feel and be this perfection no matter what the outside situation presents. When we can embrace and accept our Self in full, which includes the "best" and "worst" qualities, there is no need to try and prove anything - This is a very peaceful state indeed! Recommended Readings: The Book of Secrets - Depak Chopra |
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Susan Guest is an educator and certified Blue Belt Nia Instructor. She teaches Nia in the Halifax and St. Margarets Bay area. Susan helps you to increase your body awareness, to love moving in your body, and to seek balance and harmony. Susan’s playshops explore practical, joy-filled, body-mind-spirit avenues for developing creativity, building community, and investigating healthy living strategies. A lover of dance and movement of all kinds, she continues to dance through life. Dancing Through Life, The Nia Technique Pleasure and ease are basic conditions of a healthy body. Pleasure has the power to heal and contains the key for living an enjoyable and fulfilling life. When we allow this seed of joy to sprout, when we feel connected and supported by moving in our bodies with pleasure and ease, we have a framework in which to dance through life. At the core of The Nia Technique is the sensation of pleasure. Nia is a movement practice that integrates dynamic music with Eastern and Western movement forms. It nurtures connection with self and teaches you to consciously move in a gentle and integrated way, while increasing strength, flexibility, agility, mobility, and stability. Nia is based on creating a loving relationship with the body and following your body’s way of moving. In this workshop we will explore moving in ways that seek what we call Universal Joy, which is sensed as a unique quality of aliveness. You will experience both structured and free movement. Nia is for anyone who loves to move and be moved. There will be a variety of danceable music to stir your body and soul. Recommended reading: Awareness Through Movement, Moshe Feldenkrais The Anatomy of Change: A Way to Move Through Life's Transitions Second Edition by Richard Strozzi-Heckler. The Alexander Technique: Freedom in Thought and Action, Tasha Miller and David Langstroth. The Nia Technique: The High-Powered Energizing Workout That Gives You a New Body and a New Life, Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas |
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Stephen Joyce has been practicing yoga and meditation together for more than 20 years. Stephen received his Yoga Teacher training in 2006 and a year later completed the Primordial Sound Meditation Teacher training program at the Chopra Center in Carlsbad California. These programs have given Stephen the knowledge and skills necessary to provide his students with optimal training. To add to his area of expertise, Stephen has also received training from Yoga Masters Beryl Bender Birch, Tim Miller and currently studying with Jody Manley of Halifax who is the most senior Ashtanga teacher east of Montreal. Stephen is currently working on the Ayurvedic Perfect Health program with the Chopra center, which will give him his Vedic Masters certification. Primordial Sound Meditation is a meditation technique originating in the ancient wisdom of India. Primordial Sounds—the basic, most essential sounds of nature—are used to disconnect us from the activity of life. These individually selected sounds, known as mantras, are based on the vibration of the universe at the moment of your birth. This workshop will introduce the basic principles of meditation, its history and the importance of meditating. We will explore the long-term affects of stress on the mind/body and how meditation creates a restful state of awareness that leads to balance, vitality and happiness. |
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Jenny Kierstead, BPE, B.Ed, is the founder of the National Award Winning Breathing Space Yoga Studios in Halifax, Bedford and Dartmouth. She is a columnist and has recently developed the yoga curriculum that is currently being implemented in high schools throughout Nova Scotia. Jenny’s broad spectrum of study in body, mind and spirit therapies is what makes her teaching energizing, inspiring and sacred. Awaken the Extraordinary with Yoga Free your mind and let your body breathe! Join world class yoga instructor, Jenny Kierstead from Breathing Space Yoga Studio for a transformational yoga experience. Immerse yourself in the ancient teachings of yoga and rediscover your source of inner strength and peace. Beginning with a focused intention, participants will enjoy postures designed for all levels followed by a reflective meditation to clarify one’s truest desires. *Bring a yoga mat and wear comfortable clothes. www.BreathingSpaceYogaStudio.ca |
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Shahar Rabi is the Co-Director of the New Earth Institute, an organization comprised of people from all over the world who are committed to the evolution of a healthy, sustainable world through integrated approaches to education. As a yoga and meditation teacher, Shahar lived in monasteries in India, Nepal and Thailand, learned extensively from great teachers in the field of non-dual philosophy and has been a part of communities engaged in the search of a more holistic and integral way of being. Over the past thirteen years, Shahar has led workshops in Israel, India, Canada and other countries about integral intelligence and wellbeing, taught philosophy in formal and informal education programs in high schools and university, and worked as a dance teacher and choreographer. He has a Masters degree in the field of management in education and a B.A. in Philosophy and Education. His Masters thesis focused on the sense of coherence amongst young people and the effects of meditation on wellbeing, health and functionality in everyday life. He won an award from the President of Israel for excellence in teaching and an award for social activity in his home city in Israel after founding a Second-Hand Center. He lives with his wife, Saskia Tait, in Mahone Bay. The Art of Honesty Shahar's presentation will focus on the "Art of Honesty", which is the capacity to see "what is" from moment to moment without any manipulation or avoidance. Presence to the "I AM" and its dynamic energy brings about a natural and healthy change that transforms one's life without the usual, arduous effort. The presentation will demonstrate the need for "honesty poetry" (how honesty is poetry) and how the narrative we give to human experience can evoke innate wisdom and an existential experience of freedom and joy. We will explore an integrated view of the nature of the dynamic energy of the "I AM" and the necessity of keeping the mystery alive (not knowing, but being). |
